AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 08: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his second shot to the fifth hole during the final round of the 2012 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 8, 2012 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

Photo: David Cannon, Getty Images

AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 08: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his...

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AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 06: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on from the 13th hole during the second round of the 2012 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 6, 2012 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Photo: Andrew Redington, Getty Images

AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 06: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on...

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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, tees off on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 8, 2012, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Photo: Charlie Riedel, Associated Press

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, tees off on the fourth hole...

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Rory McIlroy watches his shot on the third hole during the pro-am of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, May 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

It is a measure of Rory McIlroy's place in the golf galaxy that he routinely joins Tiger Woodsand Phil Mickelsonon the marquee. Woods and Mickelson will play for the first time since the Masters this week in Charlotte, N.C., but there's just as much anticipation (if not more) surrounding McIlroy's return.

His prominence will only rise the second week of June, when he comes to San Francisco as defending champion of the U.S. Open. McIlroy will even throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Giants-Astros game on June 12 - one of the few times all week he won't worry about shaping the ball around a dogleg.

McIlroy, who turns 23 on Friday, brings little personal history in San Francisco. He has visited our fair city only if you count landing at the airport on his way to Pebble Beach.

"That's just because I was listening to Mike Davisin the press conference the other day," McIlroy said, referring to the USGA executive director.

At any rate, McIlroy will face a stout challenge as he seeks to become the first player to win consecutive Opens since Curtis Strangein 1988 and '89. The Lake Course - with its sloping fairways and small greens - bears little resemblance to Congressional Country Club's Blue Course, a long and imposing layout where McIlroy cruised to victory last year.

This is part of what distinguishes the Open from the Masters, forcing players to solve a different puzzle each year. And this year's puzzle doesn't necessarily fall in McIlroy's wheelhouse.

"I expect Olympic to play pretty similar to Pebble Beach, and you've just got to adapt your game to that," he said. "That's what the best players do - they can adapt to all different conditions, and that's what I'll have to do to win more majors."

One bad omen, then: McIlroy shot 75-77 to miss the cut in the 2010 Open at Pebble.

Some other pre-Open observations after spending Monday at the Olympic Club:

-- Several greens on the Lake Course, especially on the back nine, are beaten up. This traces to the dry weather, which led to heavier play than usual, and cool winter nights (which kept soil temperatures lower).

The Open begins in six weeks, but Olympic Club superintendent Pat Finleninsists that's enough time to get greens in shape. He says the grass is growing better, given warmer temperatures.

Yes, we're writing about the grass growing. Hey, it's the U.S. Open.

-- USGA officials capped ticket sales at 33,500 per day, 5,000 more than the daily attendance in 1998. Honestly, it's difficult to picture that many people roaming the Lake Course, with such little space between holes.

The suggestion here: Don't plan to walk around following one group. Find a spot and set up camp.

-- Along those lines, No. 7 - the uphill par-4 measuring 288 yards - will be a fascinating hole to watch. Most tour pros figure to try to drive the green, which will lead to both eagle putts and challenging chip shots.

-- USGA officials left themselves some wiggle room, but they suggested no special exemptions are forthcoming. Ernie Elswill qualify on his own, because it's essentially mathematically impossible for him to fall out of the top 60 in the world ranking by the cutoff (he's No. 40).

Janzen, another two-time Open champ, will need to advance through sectional qualifying to earn a return trip to Olympic.

Quote of the week: "Didn't you guys watch my video?"

- Phil Mickelson upon entering the room for his news conference Wednesday. Mickelson was taking a good-natured jab at Woods and his online video, in which he answered questions from fans.

Girls Junior on tap: The Open is not the only USGA event coming to the Bay Area this year. Lake Merced Golf Club will host the U.S. Girls Junior Championship in July.

The Girls Junior is the national championship for 18-and-unders. Past winners include Nancy Lopez, Pat Hurst(who grew up in San Leandro), Dorothy Delasin (South San Francisco) and Alexis Thompson.

Briefly: Mickelson headlines the inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday. ... Cal, Stanford and San Jose State are in the NCAA women's West Regional next week in Erie, Colo. ... The San Jose State men's team matched the women by taking the WAC title, led by medalist Jay Myers. ... The first U.S. Open local qualifier in Northern California is Monday at Ruby Hill in Pleasanton.